Any good hardware review/info sites?

Hello all,
Are there any good hardware review sites out there? I used to go to Tom's Hardware but the articles seem dated and there are more sales links than useful info.

I'm looking for an LCD monitor. My wishlist is a 22" widescreen LCD. Beyond that I don't know whats good.
I've heard of things like backlight bleed that ruins gaming in a darkened room. I've also heard about dead pixels and such.

Where can I go for info? If anyone has an opinion or recommendation on monitors feel free to let me know.

Thanks,
Lockridge.

I usually just go by newegg.com user reviews these days. Go to the right section and and sort by number of reviews. You'll have to dig through the cruft but if there's a persistent problem it will show up.

The Samsung SyncMaster 226BW is fairly inexpensive and very good.

Not sure how much you aim to spend, but from my experience the Samsung LCDs are really good value for the money.

Most LCDs have pixel error class II these days, and from those I have seen (most of them Samsung), not a single one had problems which one could notice during typical usage.

Also, the LG L227WT might be worth a look. I do not know this one personally, but it seems to be a hot seller.

Bye
Thanee

If you're doing photo editing or otherwise need a "professional" monitor, I'd suggest Eizo. They are fairly expensive though, but the best monitors I've ever used. They have the best warranty and pixel policy too, as far as I know.

Oh, and something that's not obvious is different monitors have a different panel types. There are quite a few different panel types, the worst being TN (you should stay away from these). Here's a rough rundown: http://lcdresource.com/tools/matrix-of-all-matrices.htm

Thanee said:

The Samsung SyncMaster 226BW is fairly inexpensive and very good.

Not sure how much you aim to spend, but from my experience the Samsung LCDs are really good value for the money.

Most LCDs have pixel error class II these days, and from those I have seen (most of them Samsung), not a single one had problems which one could notice during typical usage.

Also, the LG L227WT might be worth a look. I do not know this one personally, but it seems to be a hot seller.

Bye
Thanee

Click to expand...

Thanks Thanee,
I should have put in a price threshhold. I am looking for a good one but I don't want to throw my money away. I'm thinking in the area of $300-$400 for a monitor that will give a good gaming experience (as well as be good for pictures, movie watching and that sort of thing.

Thanks for all of your input folks.

Here's a site I've seen recommended a fair bit: http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/

Psionicist said:

Oh, and something that's not obvious is different monitors have a different panel types. There are quite a few different panel types, the worst being TN (you should stay away from these).

Click to expand...

If you can afford that, that is... for most home users only TN panels are in the fitting price range, I think. Anything beyond that is for professional or power users. And they (TN panels) are better than what the linked matrix (which is more than a year old) suggest in my experience... i.e. the response time is like 2-5ms these days even on larger panels (absolutely sufficient for gaming; no ghosting to be noticeable at all), which certainly isn't poor. Viewing angle (you need to look at the monitor from the front, not from the side) and color fastness (the vast majority of monitors does not show the colors in their 'true color' but only an approximation; not as bad as it might sound, though, you normally won't even notice the difference, unless you put two different monitors next to each other showing the same content) is probably the biggest disadvantage to a classic monitor or an expensive panel, but that's a sacrifice one can easily make, IMHO.

Bye
Thanee

Yeah, Tom's sold out about a year ago. It's regrettable but it has. When I received a direct e-mail solicitation from somebody who paid Toms Hardware a month ago for the privilege - I resigned from their list. It had been coming for a while. for a long time the "weekly updates" mail were looking a lot less like news and a lot more like spam.

Tom Pabst - I hope you made your money. I'm done with you.

I would still recommend Ars Technica and Anandtech. CNet and its user reviews are not bad and are worth reading - however - there are occasions where stooges for the company shill through some of those "user" reviews. If you look about on other sites and see the same user review - that's the dead giveaway that the user review is not genuine.

As for a 22" inch flat panel - I recommend the Dell 2208WFP. My wife has the older model version of this (the new one is even better) and I have the 20.5" inch version. Five stars.

I would buy another from Dell in a heartbeat.

I would agree that the Samsung Syncmaster 225BW is also a good monitor. Contrast is not as sharp as the Dell 2208WFP, however. (Result - Dell's Blacks are better and the overall image is superior). The 226BW advertises a superior contrast to the Dell. Not sure if its genuine - but if so, so much the better. It appears to be a slightly more expensive product.

I expect you will be very happy with either the Dell or the Samsung.